Respawn Invincibility Frames Strategy Guide

[Dext3rM.]

Mariguas and I where discussing about strategy and we bring to discuss about the most important basic stuff people should know about strategy to success in the game, we mention about z cancel, match ups, tech skill, combos etc.

So I made this post to discuss about unexplored part of the game that should be considered of one of the most important basic things to learn because is one of the things that if you dont know it will cost you thousands of stocks.

it’s called RIF (Respawn Invincibility Frames), people doesn’t even notice or being conscious about how important is the strategy when the opponent is on RIF´s and the strategy that you need to escape from certain character or how to chase when you have RIF´s, and how the game change when opponent doesn’t know or you don’t know about.

So I was thinking we could do theory about strategy of RIF´s and start mastering the strategy of each character, of course the only studied stage it’s going to be Dream Land there’s no sense in any other stage because is the only legal stage in the competitive scene


For example:


Mario on RIF´s vs Fox


Mario has incredible advantage vs fox when he is on RIF´s because he can gimp him easy with low percent.

Mario is going to be chasing fox in different ways:


-If fox is on the ground Mario can grab him and gimp him with 0% so basically fox is in big danger to lose a stock.

-In case fox jumps in the side platforms, Mario can f air into grab and gimp and it’s going to be worst if fox try to escape with double jump or if Mario grabs in the platforms, Fox is going to be out of the stage to be killed with a gimp.

- grabbing the ledge is a decent option but not the best because Mario can wait for your move and if you try to recover with a roll Mario can grab him and if you jump he have the f air.


Best Option:


So in this case I consider when fox is in low % to stay on the top platform and make 1 jump, Mario is in range to hit or grab but the most important is that he is not going to be able to make a follow up to gimp fox and it’s going to lose his RIF´s doing low % only, its impossible for Mario to kill fox at early % if Fox stay on the top platform.


So this is very important to beat Mario with fox and can be a crucial point in between a loss or a win and how different is to just run to evade it without knowing anything to counter the RIF´s.

 

[Uair]

Respawn invincibility only lasts 2.5 seconds. In that 2.5 half of it will be spent going left/right and even more time if you have to go to the bottom. You aren't going to be able to gimp in 2.5 seconds unless fox is already in a position that you can get to quickly to grab him or airial attack him, if fox is at 0% he can easily just walk around on the ground and stay safe. Staying on the top platform is going to definitely get you hit, the absolute best approach here for fox is to stay under that top platform then run left/right if mario decides to platform drop the top one which will definitely take close to a entire second even fast falled.

1/10 thread for bad conclusion.

 

[Grahamaglam]

Shut up SmasherX you don't know what you're talking about.

It only takes about half a second to get under the side platforms as Mario which is close to the maximum distance from the respawn platform. That gives you a total of 2 seconds of no risk approaches and stage positioning. What dexter said is all correct, if you hit fox at low% with most aerials, it combos into a grab. If you managed to corner fox to the side of the stage or side platforms, Mario has an easy time gimping fox off the stage from a throw(Don't try to use your stupid definition of a gimp either, whatever it may be)

Back on topic: I like to place myself on the far side of the side platform with mosy characters because I feel like it gives me the most options to react to my opponent's approaches.
If they approach from above, I can do a quick plat drop the shield myself or run to the center of the stage to gain some stage control.
If they approach directly towards me, I can jump up and away or shorthop fast fall to grab the ledge.
If they approach from below, I can jump up to the top platform and try to wait out the invincibility up there or move over to the other side platform.

Of course it all depends on the matchup as well. I wouldn't try to outmaneuver falcon with RIF as Mario because falcon can just hunt you down from anywhere on the stage. Instead, I would do my best to evade his attacks by either ledge stalling or jumping away on the platforms. With a faster character, I might try to move around a slower opponent to wait out their RFI.

What I like to do with Link is to pull out a bomb right as they appear on the respawn platform. The bomb will start to flash as soon as you opponent's RFI runs out. This allows me to know when it's safe to approach(usually isn't) without looking at the opponent and allows me to focus on myour spacong and the options I have. I could also throw the bomb at the other person with good enough timing to catch them right as their invincibility runs out and maybe convert that into some more damage.

That's pretty much my input on the defensive side of RIF. I didn't talk much about ledge grabbing because I'm not very good with ledge stalling with most of the characters I play.

 

[Uair]

Shut up SmasherX you don't know what you're talking about.

It only takes about half a second to get under the side platforms as Mario.

that's about right

 

[caneut]

that's about right

smasherx, PLEASE shut up

 

[Ælude]

Good topic. I struggle the most facing a falcon in rif, doesn't seem to matter where I go alot of times, ground = grab, side plat = usmash, top plat or air = uair chains. Pika can be tough as well.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Good topic. I struggle the most facing a falcon in rif, doesn't seem to matter where I go alot of times, ground = grab, side plat = usmash, top plat or air = uair chains. Pika can be tough as well.

I'm curious what Dext3rM. and @mariguas think but I find hanging on the ledge to be the best against Falcon. Then I normally just do a regular get-up because even if he grabs you, you're too close to the edge for Falcon to get a real combo off. This is dangerous if you are at mid percent and he can just dair or uair > upB you after the throw but in general it's much safer than getting grabbed after a roll get-up or getting bair'd after a ledgehop. Also, you can buffer shield and then shield jump if he tries to dash grab which I find to be decent on most chars.

Of course, you shouldn't do a normal get-up every time, that's just my standard option